Slightly off topic, but directly related to what goes on here.

D

Dr.O

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Nov 13, 2008
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Aside from being a beginning knife maker, I have been making firearm silencers for several years.

I'd like to incorporate the artful side of knifemaking into a silencer. Before anyone who knows not about my hobby chimes in, all of my smithing is on the up and up with properly filed ATF form 1s.

So, that leads to my question.

I want to make a damascus silencer, something that looks visually appealing such as the knives posted here vs. the coated black cans I've been making.

Stainless steel because of the corrosive environment, ease of machinability, are the things I'm considering. I just don't know what types of stainless I need to consider.

Any pointers on stainless damascus? It doesn't have to be good blade steel, as the application is different, I won't need to heat treat it, or produce a cutting edge. It just needs to stick together well, and produce a contrasting effect visually.

I have an anvil, and a forge. just never made damascus before.

In my mind, I'm thinking a stack of billets slammed together, then twisted. Not folded over and over to produce multiple layers, but big lines. I can clean it all up on the lathe, and am thinking it would produce a tiger stripe type of effect.

What do the gurus think?

best,
Kyle O.
 
I think a pattern welded steel might weigh (and cost) too much for your application. Have you thought of creating the effect on a monosteel sheet with an etched pattern? Production would be quicker and cheaper. Paint your stripes on areas to be masked with nail polish then dunk the "can" in a bucket or tube filled with a mild acidic solution like FeCl, vinegar or lemon juice cut with distilled water. That will etch the pattern on the exposed areas. Then the masking can be cleaned up with acetone.
 
Silencers experience A LOT of stress. First off, wet or dry suppressors? Rifle caliber or pistol? These are some of the issues that will effect steel choice. They won't be anyone's ideal silencer, and probably won't even have to work that well... Again, no offense as the very contemplation suggests you as rent concerned about performance first for this project, but when I go silencer shopping I'm looking for light weight, flash and noise suppression in as small and inconspicuous a package as possible.

But, it would sell, I have seen damascus 1911 grips go for retarded $$ despite the extra weight.

And pattern welding steel is slightly more complicated than just having a forge and anvil. And stainless is a bit different matter as well. If you want to be able to make sure pieces of your silencer don't wind up in your, or someone else's face, I would source one of the higher end makers...
 
The stainless is harder to work and at higher temps



To be practical, I would use the typical carbon steel 1080and 15n20, then machine the body and chrome the interior body bore.


There are demos and tutorials on traditional barrel making where they form it around a mandrel

Bruce Bump did a nice demo where he did it from solid and bored it out.

http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?25035-Matchlock-Axe-Pistol





Then once you have done that, get "timascus", or titanium mokume gane made
That will colour up very nicely
The price may just about kill you but some folks have $.
If you can get them to form it hollow instead of solid that may help you.
 
The form 1 is for 556mm bore, so I could make it a .223 remington, or .22 LR. I have cans made from titanium which is very light weight and strong, so I'm not worried about weight. This is just to be an experiement where art meets utility.

I've never seen one, and I can't sell it (requires different paperwork, and more $$$$), so I want something that I don't think anyone else has done. Which is a real pattern welded silencer (the tube anyway).

If the welds are good then I'm not concerned about it coming apart, the inside baffle stack will be all stainless steel anyway, I don't want to do this particular thing in carbon steel either. I don't want to paint it, or etch stripes, but I want a big chunk of pattern welded stainless steel, so I can carve a silencer tube from it.

I was thinking of a solid piece, and I can bore it out to whatever dimensions I see fit.

So, which two stainless steels should I use? Is it doable with the equipment I have? If not doable, who would you recommend I contact for a piece?

I'm not looking for a ton of folding either.

Like this
steel A = 0.25"x2"x12" four of these, and steel B = same dimensions and four of those.
Interlace them, forge weld them, then twist them. That is what I'm looking for.
 
Sorry, not to be that way about it, but you are getting the cart before the horse. How much forge welding have you done? The question, as Stacy has put it before, is not whether it can be done but whether YOU can do it.

Can one be machined out of pattern welded steel... sure. As long as the welds are good, you are correct, it will be just as reliable as a homogeneous steel tube. I would drool all over it... I just wouldn't ever buy it. It would certainly have a lot of wow factor for the mall ninja crowd...

I have the luxury of playing with NFA toys on someone else's dime, but if it ain't light and fast, I don't want it... Again, I can see the draw, sort of, just don't know your experience in front of the forge.

And sorry, when someone says they have made suppressors for years my assumption is its for sale... Whether legally or not. Where do you live again?
 
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I'm in north Louisiana. I filled out an ATF form 1 every month for a "while" kind of like a monthly payment. So I've got a decent sized stack of unused stamps. I've made silencers out of 316L stainless, 4140, 7075 Aluminum, 6Al4V Titanium and my collection is pretty respectable. I just want to do something "pretty" for lack of a better term, and thought this would be a unique way to do it.
 
Making any type of damascus has a rather large learning curve and stainless even more so. I suggest that you save yourself some time and money and just buy a billet from someone who already knows how to do it and more importantly, do it RIGHT. I can't say enough good things about the stainless damasacus made by Devin Thomas. Although I've never used it I've also heard good things about Chad Nichols' stainless damascus. Just Google Devin's name and check out his site. All his contact info. is listed. Give him a call and describe the porject and see what he can do. I bet he can fix you up.
I'd love to see a pic if you manage to make it happen. Good luck.
 
Thank you Darrin, that is exactly what I needed to know! And pics will certainly be posted.
 
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